


If you can sleep at night, it’s because you don’t know what’s going on

by Imadeamistake



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Gen, M/M, Post-Smackdown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 10:30:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12479520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imadeamistake/pseuds/Imadeamistake
Summary: "No offense meant, I'm telling you this as your best friend," and boy did that phrase make the alarm bells ring even louder in Sami's head. "I'm the one who's been Universal, Intercontinental and US Champion okay? We need to break into this office."





	If you can sleep at night, it’s because you don’t know what’s going on

"Why don't you Helluva kick it? I bet that would work."

Kevin's face was expectant. There was a beat where Sami hesitated just a second too long and that was all it took for Kevin's eyes to start to harden. Sami took two steps backwards and ran at the door with as much force as he could muster.

"Ow." It didn't budge.

"Maybe try it again?" Kevin suggested.

"I don't think so." Sami winced and rubbed his foot. The door was solid, it hadn’t even rattled. "Does it really matter? We just beat Orton and Shinsuke, what could Shane possibly do to us?"

Kevin sighed and folded his arms.

"Sami. No offense meant, I'm telling you this as your best friend." And boy, did that phrase make the alarm bells ring even louder in Sami's head. "I'm the one who's been Universal, Intercontinental and US Champion okay? We need to break into this office."

Sami didn't protest further.

"What about the venue staff? They have to have their own keys to the rooms, right?"

"Good thinking." Kevin give him a slap on the back. "Maybe there's a janitors' room."

They began searching through the rabbit warren of corridors backstage. They weren't doing anything obviously below board, but Sami still buzzed with a nervous energy that wouldn't abate, the same energy that hadn’t really left him since Hell in a Cell. He tried not to let it show. Kevin was so blasé about breaking into the general manager’s office it was like he did it all the time. Sami did his best to emulate that calmness. He'd made his decision, he reminded himself, there was no going back now. As Kevin had explained to him earlier, luck favored the prepared and Kevin intended to be very lucky next week in the face of whatever Shane and Bryan were planning. 

There was no convenient janitor’s closet, but they did locate the security control desk. It was manned by three sleepy men, one of which couldn’t be far off retirement. Behind them was a bank of screens for the security cameras most of them playing footage of empty grey corridors.  

"So, what do you want to do?" Kevin whispered.

Sami had the impression Kevin just wanted to watch him squirm but when he checked, Kevin was looking at him seriously. Sami took off his hat and fiddled with it while he thought.

"We could say it's our dressing room and that we lost the key?"

"Maybe." Said Kevin diplomatically. "But the sign on the door does say general manager."

"It would be better if no one found out we were in there." Sami conceded. "I don't think we really need to use force Kev..." Kevin cut him off with a disbelieving look.

"No shit. You'd give that one guy a heart attack."

Sami relaxed at that but tried to play it cool, like obviously it was ridiculous that Kevin would even dream of attacking a seventy-year-old. Of course not. However, he still felt some trepidation when Kevin stepped forward up to the counter.

"Hey, there's a group of fans over by the women’s locker room." Said Kevin in a concerned tone. "They don't have badges or passes or anything. Would you guys mind checking it out?"

They assented and two of them, the aged gentleman and a nervous blond went off in search of the intruders. The other guard stayed glued to the security monitors. Kevin exchanged a look with Sami. It was a 'I did my part. What are _you_ going to do about this?' kind of look.

Sami couldn’t think, and again he hesitated a moment too long. Kevin rolled his eyes.

There was a mug of coffee on the counter. In a swift motion, Kevin shot out his arm to deliver a devastatingly hard chop. The mug flew off the counter and smashed into a thousand pieces on the concrete floor.

"Oh whoops." Kevin said unconvincingly. "Sorry about that buddy. Have you got a broom back there?" The guard scowled and left his screen, coming out from behind the counter to set about finding one.

"Go on!" Hissed Kevin. "Get them now!"

Keeping an eye on the direction the guard had gone, Sami skipped behind the counter and started looking through the racks of keys. Bryan's office was room B-39.

"Ah no some of it fell over here." Kevin said, kicking the shards further up the corridor. He didn’t offer to help the guard sweep.

There were so many keys, B-12, B-13, B-14. This was all indicative of a wider problem, Sami thought, no one trusted each other anymore, one locked door from the outside wasn't enough. Everyone had to be locked inside their own bubble to be safe. How had the world become like that? A thousand years ago people didn't live that way. But mind you, Sami supposed, they didn't really have the technology to mass produce cheap locks like now. 

"Sami! Any day now!" Kevin muttered.

Oh yeah.

B-39. Sami stuffed the key into his jacket pocket, shuffled around to the other side of the counter and tried his best not to look guilty.

Without another word to the security guard, Kevin took Sami’s wrist and dragged him back up the empty corridor.

"You got the right one?" He asked when they were clear. Sami showed him the tag. "Great."

"Hey, how do you think people locked their doors in the old days?"

"With keys. Depends how far back you mean."

"Medieval times?"

"They had locks back then. Unless they were dirt poor I guess, and then they'd have nothing worth stealing anyway."

"I wonder who the first person to invent a key was."

"Honestly? I don't." Said Kevin, and that was the end of that.

 

In in the arena, 205 Live was partway through filming. The sound of the crowd flooded down into the labyrinth behind the stage. Kevin let go of Sami's hand and he trailed his fingers over the walls, skimming over the whitewashed bricks. He was still bothered by a gnawing discomfort about breaking into Daniel Bryan's office, but it was minor compared to the incredible lightness he felt these days. He could barely sit still. Sleep when it came at all was short and shallow. The energy was still humming in his veins from the moment he’d grasped Kevin’s hand to pull him up from that table. 

Road cases were stacked up to the ceiling in the corridor along from the corridor that led back to the general manager’s office. Sami and Kevin were winding their way through them when a high voice called out from up ahead.

"Where are you two going?"

Sami jumped like he’d been caught red handed doing something he shouldn’t. Kevin just glared.

"You know, I don't think that's any of your business is it Renee?"

Renee Young had one of the large black cases open and was in the middle of rummaging through it, she had stopped at their arrival, and took a step towards them, her petite face scrunched up in a frown.

"Well it's not my business but-"

"Then continue not making it your business." Kevin snapped at her.

"Sami," Renee said urgently, turning to him, her brown eyes imploring. "Can I talk to you? In private?" Renee was a sensible woman, Sami thought, and she had always been kind to him.

"Anything you want to say to Sami you can say in front of me." Frustration flashed across her face. Kevin was looking back at Renee like she’d personally kicked his cat into direct traffic. Sami didn't understand his enmity for her.

"Go ahead Renee," encouraged Sami. "We can talk. Don't let him put you off."

"Sami, excuse me, but what on earth are you _thinking_?"

"Well to be honest-”

"He doesn't have to justify himself to you," Kevin butt in, wagging a finger in Renee’s face. "You keep your nose out."

Sami put a hand on Kevin's shoulder as a warning for him to back off and gave Renee an apologetic grimace.

"I'm trying not to think too hard about it honestly." If anything, that seemed to make Renee even more upset. She clutched at the sleeve of her leather jacket.

"Well in that case I think about now would be a pretty good time to turn your brain back on." The reflection of the fluorescent strips that lit the hallway from the hallway above flashed in her eyes.

"Hang on, don’t take it the wrong way Renee,"

"Yeah!" Added Kevin unnecessarily. "Don't take it the wrong way!"

"It's not that I'm not thinking at all." He struggled to explain. "I just feel like since I've come here, I've overthought every step and ended up going nowhere. Do you know what I mean?"

"But isn't going nowhere better than going in the wrong direction?!" She pleaded.

Sami shook his head.

"I don't think so."

"But Sami..." She glanced at Kevin. "However you're feeling about Shane and Daniel, how can you trust _him_?"

"Okay that's enough. Bye Renee." Kevin grabbed Sami's arm and forcefully pulled him backwards out of the corridor and away. Sami let himself be dragged along, he wasn't sure how he would have answered her question anyway.

"There's another way to the general manager’s office," Kevin said when they were back in the main hallway that connected the stage door to the rest of the underground rooms. He was examining the fire escape plan fixed to the wall that showed a map of the whole area. "We can go through catering and get around the other side."

"What do you think about what Renee said?"

"What?" Kevin didn’t look back at him. Staying two steps ahead.

"Is going nowhere better than going in the wrong direction?"

"Yes, because going the wrong way means bumping into her." He took off walking towards catering but had to come back when it was clear Sami wasn’t following, still lost in thought.

"I mean in a more, big picture way." Sami waved his arms to illustrate how big of a picture he meant.

"In that case I have no idea. Catering is this way. Come on."

Kevin pulled on Sami's arm until he followed him down the passage. He kept doing that. Sami didn’t want to bring it up. If he mentioned it Kevin might stop holding on, and the contact was comforting.

 

Catering was deserted. Most people ate before the show started and the equipment was in the process of being packed away onto flatbed trolleys by the few workers who were around. The final fifteen minutes of 205 Live were playing out on a screen. Out of the corner of his eye, Sami saw Kalisto take a nasty dive outside the ring onto the concrete of the arena floor.

"Hey!" A voice called out. "Sami! what's happening?"

Chad Gable got up from his seat and bounded over. His hair was still damp from his match earlier and when he came to a halt in front of Sami some of the water actually splattered onto him. It was like being greeted by an overexcited wet dog.

"Just some stuff" Said Sami, "You?"

"Ah not much, do you think I could talk to you a second?" He looked pointedly at Kevin.

"Wow is this becoming a thing?" Asked Kevin, incredulous. "You guys should coordinate and have a big companywide Sami Zayn intervention, it would waste less of our time that way.”

Sami gave Kevin a look and steered Gable off to the side. Kevin wasn’t pleased, but he tolerated it and sat down in one of the plastic chairs to watch the screen, leaving Sami to talk to Gable in relative privacy.

"I don't understand you Sami." Said Gable, voice mournful. "Shane's doing his best, he’s better than the other management anyway. Why'd you say all that stuff about him?"

"No, he isn't, he’s as bad as his sister. The kindest thing you can say about Shane is that he’s useless." Sami said with venom. Gable was speechless.

"Look around you!” Sami continued passionately. “Smackdown is supposedly the brand that prides itself on fairness. Right? Jinder Mahal is the world champion, the US champion is Baron Corbin! You think either of them think sportsmanship is important?" Gable visibly deflated at that. There was really nothing to say. 

“It’s not just them.” Sami's hands waved in exasperation. “Up and down the card, the belts are held by the most ruthless, merciless competitors, people who aren't afraid to cheat to get what they want! And neither Shane or Daniel Bryan have put in any real effort to stop them!"

He was dimly aware of Kevin, back at his side, pulling gently on the hood of his jacket. He supposed he was being a little loud.  

"Yeah so, I'm not going to wait for Shane to save the day!" He spat out. “And I’m not going to hang around looking at myself in the mirror and thinking I’m such a great guy while the world around me falls apart!”

"You've cracked." Said Gable, shaking his head and backing away. "You've finally lost it."

“Maybe.” Sami conceded bitterly.

“You should have just let him get crushed!” Chad shouted as Kevin pulled him out of catering, back on their meandering course to the locked office.

 

To get through this route, they had to pick their way through one of the big rooms being used for storage. It was dark and cold here as only the metal corrugated shutters stood between the vast rooms and the night-time Seattle air.

Why _hadn’t_ he let Kevin get crushed? It was another question Sami really didn’t know the answer to. He had started out watching on the screens in the back with everyone else. Then from behind a curtain on the edge of the crowd, slowly gravitating closer as the match progressed.

He remembered Kevin climbing up the cage, Shane lying prone on the announce table below. Sami’s heart had been in his throat. All the weeks leading up to this he’d warned Kevin, had warned both of them in fact. If Kevin jumped off the cage now, there was nothing Sami could do to stop him. He was unthinkably high. Too high to reach.

But Kevin didn’t take the step, or couldn’t. Shane recovered and got up off the table.

When their places had reversed, Shane showed no hesitation, no fear, no mercy. Just like his champions. Sami wanted to ask Kevin about being on top of the cage and why he hadn’t jumped off, but he knew better than to think he’d get an answer. Let alone the one he wanted to hear.

“Kevin, do you think not doing something bad, is the same as doing something good?”

Kevin groaned. It had only been a week and he could tell he was already hitting on his last nerve. They might be playing nice now, but Sami still got a twinge of satisfaction from that.

“We’re almost at the office. Can this wait?”

“Not really.” Sami stopped and leaned against the brick wall.

Kevin thought for a moment.

“I don’t really know what you’re asking, can you give me an example or something? And can we keep walking? I want to get back to the hotel sometime this century.” Sami acquiesced with a nod and they kept going.

“Okay, so say there’s a soldier and he has to kill an enemy soldier, but he doesn’t shoot, and the enemy escapes. Is that as good of an act as when a doctor saves someone’s life?”

“Well why doesn’t he shoot?”

“I don’t know,” Sami said truthfully. “Maybe he was scared, or he just didn’t want to. Does it matter? He still saved the guys life.”

“He’s a pretty crappy soldier if he can’t kill a guy.”

“I don’t think so,” Sami defended, “He was being a good human being.”

 “This is a stupid conversation.” Kevin opened the door that was meant to lead back to the office and cursed. “Fuck!”

Sami shook his head free of philosophical questions and looked. Outside Daniel Bryan’s office were Charlotte and Becky and they didn’t seem like they were planning on moving any time soon. Kevin closed the door before the women could see them.

“I’ll take care of them.” Sami reassured him.

“If you say so,” Kevin motioned him forward. “Just don’t freak them out too bad.”

Sami wanted to contest that, but after his blow up at Gable he wasn’t on the firmest ground. He went through the door, shutting it behind him, and turned to smile at Becky. She smiled back.

“Hey, I saw Bryan by the curtain before, if you want him.” That was about an hour ago now, but Sami supposed he could still be there.

“Thanks,” said Charlotte, they moved to go and for a moment Sami thought maybe it would be that easy.

“Hey Sami, could I talk to you a moment?” Becky was hovering near him.

“Why not. Everyone’s doing it.”

“You can go ahead if you want,” Becky waved Charlotte away. “I’ll catch you up.”

Sami steeled himself for a lecture, but Becky didn’t say anything for a while and when he looked up from the floor to meet her eyes she just stood there, smiling at him sadly.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better than before.” He said, and it was true.

“I’ll let you be then.” Said Becky “Just be careful yeah? Don’t take your eyes off him.” Sami didn’t need to ask who she meant. “But I guess you know that better than anyone.” 

“I do.” Sami promised. “Aren’t you going to try and talk me out of it?”

“You do you.” She shrugged, and Sami was reminded of when Shane had told him the same thing. It felt like a lifetime ago. “You aren’t the type of lad to jump without thinking.” Sami wasn’t so sure of that anymore. “You won’t lose track of right and wrong. Not for long.” Becky gave him a quick, tight hug and then she left, following Charlotte up the passage. Her support was welcome, but Sami wasn't sure that she understood him at all.

Sami opened the door to the storage room and Kevin came out.

“You got rid of them quick.” Sami nodded in reply and waited until Kevin was next to the door before he got the key out and turned it in the lock. They hurried in and Sami locked the door again from the inside, so they wouldn’t be disturbed. Now it was just them and the room. And Becky’s words echoing in his head.

After ten minutes combing through the office, Sami was getting more and more desperate, it was becoming increasingly clear to him that this was a fruitless venture. There was a lot of information about the show they’d just done. Bryan had all the matches written down to try and judge the timings. There was a list of music to go to the production team that just had a question mark next to Dolph Ziggler’s name. If that was the case Sami wondered how they knew what to play for him every week.

“Ooh here’s a medical evaluation for Shane!” Kevin waved it in front of Sami’s face like a child on Christmas morning. “It looks like two of his ribs are cracked!”

“Great.” Sami said weakly.

There was VHS tape on the desk with ‘Fashion Files’ on the side and a notepad where it looked like Bryan had been thinking about the team for Survivor Series. The whole men’s roster was listed including them. AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura were circled and at the bottom Bryan had scrawled ‘Don’t let Shane do it this year.’ The ‘don’t’ was underlined. Twice.

The same energy that had been buzzing in Sami all day was becoming unbearable, he felt like a wasp in a jar. This was pointless, there was nothing in here.

“I thought there would be something more useful than this!” Sami snarled with frustration.

Kevin looked up from the drawer he was rifling through.

“Hey, Sami-.”

“We broke in here and there’s nothing!” The unfairness of it made him sick.

“What did you expect? Just because you did something you think is bad, doesn’t mean life’s going to be easy now. That’s not the way it works. Compromising your bullshit moral code doesn't flip the world onto easy mode. Things are just difficult in different ways.”

“Oh.” Sami said.

“I know I make doing whatever I want look effortless. That’s just because I’m the best.” Kevin grinned at him. "You have to fight to own your life. It's hard work." The instinct to return the smile was strong, despite the bleakness that was fogging in Sami’s head.  

“I don’t know what I’m doing.” He admitted.

“What’s new there?”

“Ever since Shane jumped. I realised I can’t tell the good people from the bad, not really. I was wrong about Shane. Maybe I was wrong about you.” He glanced at Kevin who was staring back at him. “I didn’t think when I saved you.” He said. “I just did what I felt.”   

“It’s not a bad way to live.” Kevin said as he moved a pile of coffee cups off Daniel Bryan’s desk to the top of a filing cabinet. “If you’re doing what you want to do, that’s how you know you’re in control of your life.”

Sami thought about that as Kevin examined the stack of coffee stained paperwork. There was a sheet with just the word ‘RAW!?’ written on it.

“Weird.” Kevin said and tossed it to the side.

“Daniel Bryan doesn’t _do_ anything!” Sami kicked an empty plastic cup across the room.

“Yep.” Agreed Kevin, “But he knows what Shane’s up to.”

Sami’s anger was slowly ebbing away. He and Bryan were the same before. Showing up and doing their part, inwardly miserable. He’d said as much to Bryan during the show. But now things were different. Daniel Bryan was stuck, doing a thankless job that he didn’t want. Sami thought about what he would do if their situations were reversed. Would he choose to stay in the office, watching others do what he couldn't? He didn’t think he could bear it. Being beyond worrying what others thought about his choices, the owner of his own destiny it felt like a new life.

He realized he had let Kevin get behind him, and couldn’t totally shake off the desire to turn around. The truth was he didn’t trust Kevin at all, not in the normal sense of the word. He trusted Kevin to be himself, ambitious, obstinate and controlling. Sami had always had good time being with him anyway even if he wasn't nice person.

Sami shut his eyes and breathed in. Listening to the rustling behind him of Kevin ransacking the filing cabinet. He didn’t need to trust Kevin. He knew him. The real question, that coiled inside him like a spring and whispered to him with every breath, was whether he could trust himself. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing for this fandom! It was a lot of fun. I rushed this a bit because I really wanted to get it out before smackdown tonight. So if you see any major spelling/grammar mistakes please let me know. Hope you enjoyed reading!


End file.
